Industrial process control and automation systems are often used to automate large and complex industrial processes. These types of control and automation systems routinely include process controllers and field devices like sensors and actuators. Some of the process controllers typically receive measurements from the sensors and generate control signals for the actuators.
Model-based industrial process controllers are one type of process controller routinely used to control the operations of industrial processes. Model-based process controllers typically use one or more models to mathematically represent how one or more properties within an industrial process respond to changes made to the industrial process. Unfortunately, the benefits that can be obtained using model-based controllers often decline over time. This can be due to a number of factors, such as inaccurate models, misconfiguration, or operator actions. In some extreme cases, the benefits that could be obtained using model-based controllers can be reduced by up to fifty percent or even more over time.